My home, whilst cosy and comfortable, has a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen from the dark ages!
I kid you not! 70's style, with poor quality and poorly executed 80's updates reigned supreme. I've never been overly keen to change that status quo, but I think the indoctrination of daytime telly had manifested change in my mind. Not only could these rooms be beautiful, but I could do a lot of the work myself!
So the work has begun. Each bathroom has a new vanity and loo and EVERY tap and spout in the entire house has been replaced. Yes, I do mean outdoor taps and laundry taps and even a new tap down the back for the veggie patch. Every air vent, IXL tactic, light switch and power point has been replaced and in the main bathroom the vanity lighting has also been replaced.
It is still very much a work in progress. Mirrors and towel rails now hung and it all need a good clean..... but it is an amazing improvement at very little expenditure.
I was struggling to get the right dunnies to suit as the "set out" was probably not standard, or maybe old standard is a better term. I tried a locally well known plumbing supply business who simply dicked me around for 90 minutes. They didn't know their stock and was walking to loo to loo in the display room with a tape measure checking the set outs!!!
Fortunately a rather frustrated call to the most amazing plumber Errol, from Errol Hancock Gas and Plumbing put me in contact with Tara at Reece plumbing, Gateshead. In a 10 minute phone call with Tara, in which I thought I totally bamboozled her, she sorted all my plumbing supplies. About 45 minutes later I had a written quote emailed to me from the most amazing Tara and... it was spot on!!!! The dunnies were the right sizes and perfectly suited to the rooms. The tap sets were just magnificent. Tara is a total genius ... and obviously understood the ravings of a plumbing supply virgin. I should clarify the call to Tara was made from my car as I was diving to an appointment. I didn't have exact measurements. I was recalling from memory, describing tap shapes and finishes and she got it absolutely right!
So here are some "before" and "work still in progress" photos. There is still much to do, but crikey between Tara and Errol I am well on the way to a classy new loo or two! And the kitchen.... well that's next!
